MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois Volleyball team heads to Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend to compete in the Diet Coke Classic hosted by the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. The Leathernecks open action versus ACC member Duke on Friday evening before playing host Minnesota and Ball State on Saturday.
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LAST TIME OUT: After opening the season 2-1 in the CEFCU Classic at Bradley, the Leathernecks dropped a non-conference, five-set tilt at Northern Illinois Wednesday (Sept. 4), 3-2. Samantha Fournier led the way for the Leathernecks with a season-high 20 kills in the match. Ann Miller added 15 kills while also recording 17 digs. Bailey Kaloupek notched a career-high 27 digs in the match for the Purple & Gold. Kaitlynn Novak matched her career-high with 16 digs, while Sarah Fetter added 10. Besides her 10 digs, Fetter also led Western with 46 assists.
A LOOK AT DUKE: The Blue Devils enter the weekend with a 2-1 overall record after defeating both LIU-Brooklyn and New Orleans during their opening weekend, and falling to #9 Florida. Duke has four players in the 20-25 kills range in Emily Sklar (25), Jeme Obeime (23), Elizabeth Campbell (21) and Jordan Tucker (20). Maggie Deichmeister leads the Blue Devils in assists with 85, while Chelsea Cook owns a team-high five service aces and team-high eight blocks. Ali McCurdy has a team-best 35 digs.
SERIES HISTORY: The two teams have faced one another once in the past with Western defeating Duke, 3-1, on November 7, 1987 at a neutral site.
A LOOK AT MINNESOTA: The Golden Gophers enter the weekend with a 4-0 mark after sweeping all of their matches in the UAB/Samford Tourney in Birmingham, Ala. Minnesota defeated Jacksonville State, UAB, Georgia State and Samford in that order, all by scores of 3-0. Tori Dixson leads the Gophers in kills with 49, while Daly Santana (43) and Ashley Wittman (39) rank second and third on the squad, respectively. Alexandra Palmer leads the Gophers in assists with 140, Santana has the most digs on the team with 43, and Dixon owns a team-high 11 blocks.
SERIES HISTORY: The two teams have faced one another once in the past with Minnesota defeating Western, 3-0, on October 13, 1978 at a neutral site.
A LOOK AT BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 3-1 mark. After going 2-1 in their season opening weekend in South Florida, Ball State defeated Summit League member Fort Wayne 3-2 at home. Alex Fuelling leads the Cardinals in kills with 67 on the year, 28 more than any of her teammates. Jacqui Seidel owns a team-best 154 assists on the season, while also being one of three players to lead the team in services aces with six. Kylee Baker (49) and Fuelling (48) sit second and third on the team in digs, respectively, behind Catie Fredrich who owns a team-high 67. Hayley Benson leads the Cardinals in blocks with 13.
SERIES HISTORY: The two teams have faced one another four times with Ball State leading the series, 3-1. The Last meeting came on November 6, 1993 with Ball State winning, 3-0. Western earned its lone victory in the series the meeting prior to that, 3-2, on September 14, 1990.
CAREER LIST: Setter Sarah Fetter has 2,297 career assists at Western, which ranks sixth in program history. Fetter is only 21 assists away being tied for fifth on the career list with Molly Dunderman (1993-97).
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Ann Miller was named to the CEFCU Classic All-Tournmant Team after she finished the weekend with 57 kills, a .417 hitting percentage, 34 digs, four service aces, and five blocks.
RECENT CAREER-BESTS: Mallory Gibson posted a new career-high last Friday (8/30) versus Bradley when she stuffed 10 total blocks. In last Saturday's (8/31) match versus Tennessee-Martin, Ann Miller recorded a career-high 25 kills. In Wednesday's (9/5) match at Northern Illinois, Bailey Kaloupek bettered her career-high in digs with 29.
SCHOLOR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Ann Miller was named Papa John's Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, September 3rd, for her performance the week prior on the court and in the classroom; the honor is the second for Miller in her career. Off the court Miller is a two-time Summit League Fall Academic All-League Distinguished Scholar. The Bettendorf, Iowa native owns a 3.909 GPA and is majoring in Supply Chain Management.
THE SCHEDULE: Western's 2013 schedule breakdown: four tournaments made up of 12 matches, three additional non-conference contests, and 14 Summit League matches. The Leathernecks play eight matches at home in Western Hall or Brophy Hall, and 21 matches on the road.
THE ROSTER: The Fighting Leathernecks return nine players from a year ago, including two seniors. Setter Sarah Fetter returns after finishing second in The Summit League and 45th nationally in assists per set (10.88), and outside hitter Heather Smith begins her fourth year as a Leatherneck after finishing fourth on the team in kills a season ago (194/1.81 per set).
Western has five juniors returning, including two of its top three kill leaders in Samantha Fournier and Ann Miller. Fournier finished with a team-best 402 kills (3.65 per set) and was tabbed All-Summit League Honorable Mention, while Miller finished third on the team in kills with 279 (3.28 per set). Middle Blocker Mallory Gibson finished fifth on the team in kills (110/1.05 per set) and led the team with 82 total blocks. Defensive specialists Molly Murphy and Bailey Kaloupek each played in over 90 sets and recorded more than 130 digs.
A pair of sophomores round out Western's returners. Jordan Jackson played in 50 of the team's games and tallied 72 kills (1.44 per set), while Kaitlynn Novak participated in four sets and had 16 digs.
Six newcomers are welcomed to the team in middle blocker Melanie Miller (Chicago, Ill.), defensive specialist Kelly Bowe (Downers Grove, Ill.), defensive specialist Sarah Sikula (Bowling Green, Ohio), outside hitter Nicole Oestrike (New Boston, Mich.), Anne Corrigan (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and setter Kirsten Kuhl (Parkland, Fla.).
THE COACHING STAFF: Head coach April Hall enters her second season at Western and has hired a pair of new coaches. Laura DeBruler, who concluded her collegiate volleyball career at Illinois in 2010 is the Leathernecks' full-time assistant, while Bridget Murphy, who completed a decorated career at Western Illinois as a defensive specialist last fall is the team's graduate assistant.
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